1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an optical fiber connector, and more particular to an optical fiber connector having a protecting member.
2. Description of Prior Art
Present telecommunication technology develops, to an increasing extent, optical fiber for signal transmission. The use of optical fibers, in turn, requires numerous collateral components especially adapted to handle the light or optical transmission, among which are optical fiber connectors.
Optical fiber connector for connecting digital systems mostly use a transmitting rod for alignment and support the fiber. Examples of optical fiber connector that uses a plastic fiber within a ferrule include: i) the F07 Duplex Plastic Fiber System from AMP; ii) the SMI (small Muti-media Interface) Connector from Sony Corporation; and iii) the HFBR series of plastic fiber connector from Hewlett Packard. For assuring performance of the optical connector, it is necessary that a door prevents dust and vapor in the air from entering the optical fiber connectors.
As shown in FIG 1, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-331859 discloses an optical fiber connector, which comprises a housing 1 holding an optical element 11 therein, a rotatable door 13 assembled to the housing 1. The housing 1 defines a cavity 12 therein for receiving a complementary optical fiber plug 2 with a mating portion 21. Once the complementary optical fiber plug 2 is inserted into the housing 1, the rotatable door 13 is rotated to an open position. When the optical fiber plug 2 is withdrawn from the optical fiber connector, the rotatable door 13 is closed to avoid entry of dust into the optical fiber connector. However, the rotatable door 13 is outside the housing 1 when the fiber plug 2 is received in the cavity 12 of the housing 1, which is easy to be damaged arid increases the space occupied by the optical fiber connector.
FIG. 2 shows another optical fiber connector, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,152. The optical fiber connector comprises an elastic door 101 and a housing 10. A fiber 201 is embedded in a fiber plug 20. The elastic door 101 is elastically pushed inwardly in a cavity 102 of the housing 10 by an external force when insertion a mating portion 202 of the fiber plug 20 and restores back to original state when the fiber plug 20 is withdrawn from the optical fiber connector. However, the cavity 102 has to provide enough space for receiving the inwardly rotated elastic door 101 therein, which is adverse to minimization of the optical fiber connector. Moreover, the elastic door 101 should be opened by a knock of the fiber plug 20, which consequently leads to abrasion of the fiber 201 after repeated insertion/withdrawal of the fiber plug 20.
Hence, an optical fiber connector having a protecting member is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.